Kelly Cunningham, an economist with the La Jolla-based
institute, wrote in the report that the San Diego area lost 105,000
jobs since the recession began in 2007, and that it could take at
least five years to recover those jobs.

"Only under the most optimistic scenario will San Diego return
to full employment by 2020," he said. San Diego needs to add
224,000 jobs over the coming decade to bring the unemployment rate
back to "full employment" ---- which is considered the case when
the jobless rate is below 5 percent. "That is an optimistic
scenario."

The latest data shows that San Diego County's unemployment rate
fell to an unadjusted 9.6 percent in May, down from a revised 9.8
percent in April, and below the year-ago estimate of 10.1 percent,
according to the Employment Development Department.

Labor market observers believe San Diego County is optimistically
on track to create at least 18,000 jobs this year.

Cunningham also pointed out in his report that, after three
consecutive years of jobs losses, San Diego employment in 2010
stood at the same level as in 2001. He characterized the last 10
years as a "lost decade" for employment growth. The average annual
wage of jobs in San Diego also rose from $38,148 in 2001 to $48,802
by 2010, an increase of 28 percent. Adjusted for inflation,
however, the average fell 0.4 percent.

In addition, the unemployment rate could be far worse,
Cunningham said.

By definition, to be counted as unemployed, a person must be
actively seeking employment. The
U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
additionally measures "labor force
under-utilization" by including those who stop looking for work,
and "under-employment," or those working part time because they
cannot find full-time work.

Cunningham wrote that under-utilization in San Diego in 2010 was
likely to be near 20 percent, with California at 22.1 percent and
Los Angeles County at 24.3 percent.

"I don't know if we ever had that kind of real unemployment.
That is talking about Depression levels," he said. "These are very
sobering statistics."